Every year, life and property are lost on the water. Power and sail, recreational and commercial vessels and equipment alike are all in danger of sinking due to loss of buoyancy. In fact most vessels, vehicles or aircraft traveling over water have at one time or another needed buoyancy enhancement. The problem has been somewhat alleviated by the advent of new construction materials and designs. Many systems have been designed and installed to make ships, boats, aircraft, and other vessels and equipment safer at sea and to keep such craft afloat when they are in danger of sinking. Most commonly, marine vessels use pumps of one sort or another to pump water from inside the hull over the side. Such systems have been used successfully for generations, and have saved property and many lives. However, such systems are effective only so long as the capacity of the pumping system exceeds the rate at which water is coming into the vessel. If the amount of water entering a vehicle exceeds the capacity of the pumps or they fail to dispose the water outside of the vessel, the vessel is doomed to sink. Pumping systems and other systems designed to prevent sinking often have little to no buoyancy in themselves.
Previous devices designed to enhance buoyancy have not provided a viable solution for the industry for a number of reasons. Primarily, they are not designed to be conveniently maintained or tested to ensure constant working conditions. Many systems cannot both easily fit into the limits of space and provide the amount of buoyancy required to keep a vessel from sinking. Previous devices also adversely affect the desired efficiency or appearance of the vessels' design and thus their marketability. Most prior systems also are effective only for watercraft, or a specific type of watercraft.
Accordingly, it would be an advancement in the art to provide a system providing an effective amount of buoyancy and yet accommodating space constraints on a vessel. Such a system should also avoid degrading the aesthetics of the vessel. It would be a further advancement in the art to provide such a system that is usable in multiple types of watercraft and in vehicles and equipment other than watercraft.